Drop protection for a Suzuki GS500F

My wife recently bought a 2-year old GS500F, which is the fully faired
version of the GS500.

She has only just got her NSW learners and plans to use the bike to
learn to ride, and do the skills test to get her full license.

She is realistic enough to know that at some point in that process she
will problem have a low speed drop, and so we decided to investigate
what we could do to protect the bike.

The only option we seem to have is to remove the fairing, as no one
seems to make oggy knobs or crash bars for the GS500F. There are kits
for the unfaired GS500E version, but these don't adapt to the GS500F
without cutting holes in the fairing.

We can only remove the bottom 2/3's of the fairing, as the upper part
supports the headlight, blinkers, mirrors etc.

Any suggestions for how we can apply some drop protection to her bike ?

Thanks
David

 

The first thing to do would be to find a forum somewhere in the world that
is based around this bike, once you do that you'll have a wealth of
experience to draw upon. These guys showed up in 2 seconds using Google:
http://gstwin.com/

Without Oggy equivalents, personally I'd have no recommendations.

Insurance??? Thats a form of drop protection

All the best
JasonBW

 

Look under "Case Guards" http://gstwin.com/racers_corner.htm#supersport

JasonBW

 

Bubble Wrap.


Boxer

 

Thanks Jason!

Now why didn't I think of that!

I am looking at GSTWIN now.

David

 

The bottom section should be enough.. how much of it was she planning to
smash ?

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

Not that I know you Gerry, but it pays to be realistic about dropping a
bike at some point... why do you think theres such a market for Oggy
Knobbs.

JasonBW

P.s. Quit the 'Cheers' if your trying to be an a**hole

 

Fear advertising. It worked for John Howard in the last two elections.
You have to be realistic about people throwing their children overboard at
some point.

Theo

 

Because some people can't afford insurance premiums.

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

Gerry,

I think she is perhaps being realistic rather than negative. Although a
high speed drop is a possibility, protecting the bike in those
circumstances is going to be difficult, and I reckon I would have other
bigger concerns than the bike anyway!

She is mainly concerned about a drop during low-speed riding.

FWIW, I have removed the lower 2/3rds of the fairing today, and it looks
like the GS500E oggy knobs will fit and give some protection. We could
then remove them and refit the fairing when she is more confident.

Thanks for your thoughts.
David

 

Good to see you back, Gerry.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

If confidence is a problem then removing the fairings and fitting oggy
knobs is just going to reinforce the notion that she is likely to crash
and that won't help her gain confidence at all. not all learners will
crash. I had about 40,000km and 18 months of riding under my belt
before I started learning the fine art of crashing.

Nev..
'04 CBR1100XX

 

Nev,

I agree about the confidence thing, and tries to convince her, without
success.

Also, to be clear, we are not talking about crash protection, but more
drop protection. That is, the bike falling over while at rest.

She is not able to put both down flat, and hasn't got the art of
stopping perfected yet. Hence the danger of a drop.

I suggested we could tape or tie a bunch of cushions etc on each side of
the bike, like in that tv ad for car insurance. It didn't go down well :-/

Thanks
David

 

OK, super embarrassing admission - have had 2 stop 'n' drops on my GS500F
(the first one less than 24 hours after I picked it up from the shop
*sniffle*). Very annoying, very embarrassing...not too much damage though.
Haven't fixed the damage yet, just in case I do another one. Am giving
myself a few months just in case.

I can relate to the "too short" stuff - it's incredible how unconfident you
get when there's bugger-all margin for error, especially on a new bike, and
even more especially when you're a bit of a newbie to riding.

On the plus side - after the first drop (which was a bit devastating with my
brand new shiny bike) I sort of shrugged and said "ah well.... it's happened
now *sigh* ... onwards and upwards..."

I think I've finally bonded with the new bike now - and it's only taken
6000kms.... and I haven't had a stop 'n' drop in the last 5000kms...<fingers
crossed for the NEXT 5000kms!>

betty

 

Thanks Betty,

she took some heart from your message.

We spent the afternoon in a large carpark at the local industrial
estate, and made good progess.

Thanks again
David

 

No need to be embarassed, it was inevitable, I'm afraid. Glad to hear
the damage was minimal.

Cox's Corollary to Murphy's Law;
"Any vehicle purchased or repainted or both will sustain damage within
the first three months after said purchase or repaint or both."

 

Teach her to let go of the front brake just before coming to a halt and
doing that last bit of stopping on the rear brake only. Makes for a much
more stable halt.

Theo
6000 kms on the Norge now.